Texts

Print Materials

The following text is required for this course:

  • Frieden, Jeffry. Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2006. (Amazon)

The following text is “suggested,” but students do not need to purchase it:

E-Reserve Materials

The E-Reserve material for this course is available via the following web-link:

http://eres.middlebury.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=1921

If you have forgotten the password required to access this material, consult this page:

http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/lis/help/borrow/reserves/password_eres/

Reading Guide

J-Term presents a particular set of challenges and opportunities to instructors. Typically, I like to expose students to a broad range of materials. I carefully “prune” the assignments to keep the number of pages manageable. Each class then might touch on 3-4 different readings. In J-Term, however, we meet so frequently that 3-4 readings per class would mean upwards of 16 readings per week–far more than anyone can keep straight in his or her head!

I have thus decided to assign a smaller number of readings but with more pages. I have also selected materials that I think are particularly rich. The advantage is that students should get to know some materials and authors worth knowing. The disadvantage is that the individual assignments tend to be longer. Students are thus encouraged to ensure they keep up with the reading and to use their weekends and evenings wisely.

Students should make certain they read the material in the order in which it appears on the syllabus (rather than the order in which they obtain it!). The ordering often follows a logical progression (e.g. an unfolding debate), where the sequence matters. Otherwise, the readings follow from most important to least.

Obviously, there is far more valuable material on our course topics than we can consider in this class. Some of you may be pressed, at some points, to cover even the assigned material with the thoroughness you would like. I recommend the following strategy. First, familiarize yourself with each of the readings. Read the abstracts and/or the introductions and conclusions to determine the authors’ arguments and findings. Next, consider briefly the relation between the various readings, their relation to previous readings, and their bearing on our framing/discussion questions. Finally, work systematically through the readings (starting at the top) to develop a critical analysis of the authors’ works. Be sure to jot a few notes for each piece.